Warning: nsfw contents

  He spoke no more, and did nothing else . His hold on her hand was gentle but firm, as though he wanted to coax the weariness out of Chen Rong .

  Sure enough, she gradually relaxed .

  Her tensed wrists fell as she settled in the crook of his neck, sinking down little by little .

  When she awoke it was to a bumpy ride . As soon as she stirred, a hand stilled her and Wang Hong’s voice sounded: “Don’t move, your wound has just been dressed . ”


  Chen Rong softly hummed and opened her eyes .

  She saw a white-clad man with a faint smile on his handsome face, leaning leisurely on the carriage wall . “Where are we going?” she asked in a daze .

  “Back to Nan’yang . ”


  “Back to Nan’yang just like this?”


  Wang Hong looked down and smiled at her .

  His smile was particularly radiant . “Don’t worry, Murong Ke’s people have fallen to Ran Min’s trap,” he explained . “After you disappeared, I sent someone to contact Ran Min . ”


  “Murong Ke is a clever man . He only communicated with me,” he lazily said, rubbing his chin . “He intended to use you to lure me, then get rid of me before using you again to deal with Ran Min . Even if the two of us didn’t fall for his trap, he must have thought we’d live in regrets for the rest of our lives because you had fallen into his hands . But he had underestimated me, as well as Ran Min . ”


  With a faint smile, Wang Hong looked up at the carriage ceiling and muttered, “I had told that rascal long ago that I, Wang Hong, have never been a stubborn old hat . What made him think I wouldn’t look for Ran Min and join our forces against him?”


  When he saw that Chen Rong was listening attentively, he continued: “I disclosed the new mayor’s route and his troop numbers to Murong Ke because I knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself from taking the bait . Ran Min agreed to take care of Murong Ke’s men while I rescue you . I’m guessing,” he paused to estimate, “that those two have met by now . Tsk tsk, we have a purpose whereas he is negligent, we take action whereas he is passive; Murong Ke will suffer quite a loss this time . I bet he’ll start to behave after this . ”


  “Then what about the mayor of Mo’yang?” Chen Rong asked .

  Wang Hong bowed his head to look at her . He rested his hands on his lap in the same nonchalant manner .

  Chen Rong, on the other hand, grew more anxious the longer she looked at him .

  Wang Hong quietly regarded her . His lips upturned into a faint smile . “That’s inconsequential . ”


  “How can it be inconsequential?”


  Chen Rong sat up, tugged his sleeves and pleaded, “Well? Tell me . ” Tell me . You gave away the mayor’s itinerary . Would you be exposed? Would you be incriminated?

  Wang Hong was still quietly watching Chen Rong .

  His gaze was quiet and clear .

  But the more he acted this way, the more uneasy Chen Rong felt . She knew this man . The bigger the trouble, the more he would try to brush it off as if nothing was the matter .

  Wang Hong withdrew his gaze with a smile .

  “Rest easy, nothing’s the matter . ”


  How could nothing be the matter? The major clans in Jiankang constantly tried to impede one another…… If that wasn’t the case, then why would he hide everything when he clearly hadn’t lost to Murong Ke?

  While Chen Rong was on pins and needles, Wang Hong patted her hand but offered no more words .

  Chen Rong composed herself and slowly sat upright . When she looked down, she discovered that she was still wrapped in his white robe .

  She turned around and removed it .

  Setting it aside, she next removed the red dress tied around her waist and neck . When it fell to the ground, her inner layer, torn lapels, and alabaster skin displayed before Wang Hong’s eyes .

  Chen Rong picked up the white robe to put it on . Suddenly, a hand reached out .

  And placed itself on her chest .

  Slender fingers gently grazed down to the visible bruises on her breasts .

  Chen Rong didn’t expect Murong Ke’s manhandling to have left bruises .

  Colors drained from her face .

  Holding her shoulder in one hand, he slightly forced Chen Rong around so that she was facing him .

  Wang Hong, who had been nonchalant until now, had stopped smiling . He stared fixedly at the fingerprints on her chest .

  His hands tore at the ripped lapels .

  Chen Rong made a cry, her ashen face turning beet red . She hurriedly covered her sprung breasts as she stared up at him in chagrin and distress .

  Wang Hong was donning a placid expression . Because he was being too calm, he looked positively cold .

  Chen Rong blinked, her eyes reddening before she realized what was happening . She sniffled and wanted to express her grievances when, suddenly, a warmth spread over her breasts .

  It was Wang Hong who had bowed his head to look at her, contemplating every inch of her exposed upper body .

  As he approached, her pink nipples unconsciously erected and hardened, almost touching the tip of his nose .

  Chen Rong’s face altered between crimson and white . Wang Hong was leaning so close that his breaths pricked her . His fingers grazed breezily while his eyes burned like fire, causing her heart to drum .

  But he was so matter-of-fact about it that he seemed almost indifferent .

  Was he seducing her or examining her?

  He held her in both hands, inspected her body from head to toes, then moved his eyes to her breasts .

  “Did he touch you here?” he asked, causing Chen Rong to shiver under his caress .

  Chen Rong’s lips quivered . She wanted to reply to him: You clearly said you won’t care about it since you’ve come to save me . So why do you care about it now?

  Despite thinking so, she was embarrassed to say: “When they marched this morning, he suddenly grabbed me as we were talking . ”


  “He just grabbed you like that?” He touched the bruises, his voice cold and husky .

  “Aye . ”


  She wanted to calm down but his breathing and his hands were making her tremble .

  “He had promised me my dignity, but when they marched this morning he suddenly told me to wear that red outfit a-and ripped my lapels before letting me sit on horseback . I was supposed to ride my own horse but halfway through he told me to ride with him . ”


  Chen Rong’s voice dropped to an almost inaudible level . “He made me sit in front of him, and started to grab me after trading a few words . ”


  Her eyes were filled with tears at this juncture . She shivered, not knowing if it was caused by shame or by distress and panic .

  She bit her lips and thought to herself: What am I afraid of? I-I’m not marrying him . I’m a Daoist nun now, and His Majesty promises to let me keep pretty boys, so why should I be afraid?

  Or so she thought . But for whatever reason she just felt ashamed . She wished she could beg him to believe in her innocence . That really, truly, she was no one else’s but his .

  While Chen Rong shivered, all of a sudden, Wang Hong took one of her breasts into his mouth .

  Her legs slumped and she collapsed into his arms .

  She could feel the tip of his tongue swirling across those bruises .

  Amid the trembling that could not be controlled, Chen Rong suppressed her gasps to murmur: “H-he didn’t do this . ” Then, thinking it wasn’t quite right, she quickly added, “He didn’t do anything to me, really . He only grabbed me a little . ”


  Her clarification sounded rather pathetic .

  And the sucking of her breast was muddling her brain .

  This translation belongs to hamster428 .

  Her breasts throbbed in his palms and mouth . Unconsciously, Chen Rong held his head and brought herself closer to him .

  Then, a bite stung her .

  “I-I really didn’t,” she rasped .

  She did not receive an answer . Heat was pooling in her body . In her trance, she had been laid flat on the carriage floor, with his body over hers .

  His fingers kept scraping at the bruise marks, rubbing them, sucking them and biting them again and again .

  His kneading was so rough, his sucking and licking so long, that he was hurting her .

  But Chen Rong liked this pain . As the sensation became more and more intense, she thought that perhaps her marks and humiliation were going to disappear .

  Amid her ecstasy, tears, and shame, she hadn’t realized that she had been completely disrobed .

  Not until his lips landed on her small ones, not until a hard and hot object entered her body, swelling her with fullness and an abrasive pain .

  Chen Rong only made a sound by the time he entered her . “You, we can’t,” she said, before he swallowed the rest of her words . We can’t . You said our child can’t bear my surname, and I said I will never be your concubine . Moreover, I just fell into the hands of the Hu and spent days in their barracks . If I were to conceive at this time, those rumors and gossip will put the child in danger .

  Each throbbing contact rubbed her breasts to numbness . Chen Rong’s uncontrollable tears fell like rain . She clasped his neck and clung to him, quietly pleading: “Don’t, don’t release inside me…… there can’t be a child . ”


  He answered her with a more intense rhythm and faint gasps .

  The carriage was moving steadily . But every time it shook, a suppressed moan would escape .

  Chen Rong was still weeping . She didn’t know how long it took until she suddenly bit his shoulder and cried out in pain .

  It was a long, long time until she had the strength to push him away, helplessly crying: “Why didn’t you release outside?”


  Wang Hong looked up . His handsome face was covered with sweat, a strand of hair sticking to his forehead . He smiled tenderly and kissed her forehead . “Don’t worry, if we have a child I will keep him . ”


  At these words, Chen Rong burst into tears .

  She cried inconsolably . Within a moment, the grievances of being captured, her daily worries, the anxiety that she would implicate him, her fear of the future and of an unwanted pregnancy all turned into tears .

  Wang Hong held her as she wept, pulling a white robe over her body .

  Chen Rong buried her head and cried while turning away . “You don’t have to keep the child,” she said through her tears .

  After a pause, she calmly tried to say: “If we have a child, he will come with me . ”


  She received no answer .

  Chen Rong wiped her tears and looked back .

  She saw him lying on his back, the expression on his perspiring face was somber and lonely .

  Looking at him like this, an unspeakable guilt struck Chen Rong’s heart: How many days had he suffered, how much effort did he spend to save me? Most importantly, he had done too many things in the process that the Jiankang nobles will never tolerate .

  He was in danger of losing his reputation because of her .

  Her heart softened at this thought . She moved to his side and slowly rested her face on his chest .

  Putting her hand on his beating heart, Chen Rong murmured, “Don’t be angry with me…… Qilang, I am yours for the rest of this life . It’s fine if you want our child to carry your name . You can discuss it with your wife’s family that your surname is all we ask for, we won’t pose any threats to your legitimate son . ”


  She suddenly felt a little powerless and closed her mouth .

  When she did not speak, Wang Hong also remained silent . Only their breathing mixed with the scent of sex lingered in the carriage .

  In the silence, Chen Rong burrowed closer to Wang Hong . She falteringly asked, “Qilang, w-why did you come to save me?”


  She lowered her eyes . “I didn’t think you would come . ” She sounded both happy and wracked with guilt .

  This long-awaited question was only now asked .

  At length, Wang Hong’s hoarse voice sounded: “Why didn’t you think I would come?”


  Chen Rong stilled . “It’s not good for you to save me,” she managed after a while . She looked up at him in a daze . Seeing that his eyes were closed, his face the same as usual, Chen Rong moved her lips and faltered, “You’ll have a hard time ahead, won’t you?”


  Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible .

  Wang Hong opened his eyes and slowly turned to look at her .

  He reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist . His palm slid under her layers, caressing the exposed breasts where the fabric was torn . He placed her on top of him and softly said, “Why think so much? Let’s live for today . ”


  Thus said, he placed another kiss on her lips and rolled them over, his body covering hers .